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More Proof, If You Needed It, That Jane Austen Invented Baseball

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We already know about the presence of the word(s) “base ball” in the first chapter of Northanger Abbey, the first piece of proof that, since she was the first writer to mention it, Jane Austen must have invented the Great American Pastime; but the Editrix has stumbled across yet more proof that Jane Austen indeed invented base ball.

From Persuasion, Volume I, Chapter 9:

A dinner at Mr. Musgrove’s had been the occasion when all these things should have been seen by Anne; but she had staid at home, under the mixed plea of a headache of her own, and some return of indisposition in little Charles. She had thought only of avoiding Captain Wentworth; but an escape from being appealed to as umpire as now added to the advantages of a quiet evening.

Uh, the Phillies won the pennant *last* year. It’s the World Series where they got buzz-sawed by the pukin’ Yankees. And Roy Halladay is certainly a worthy successor to Cliff Lee.

I would so love to be able to go to the ballpark with Miss Austen. Those of you who love Persuasion and baseball should take a look at Michael Shaara’s brilliant For Love of the Game. It strikes a similar elegiac tone. DO NOT mistake the vastly inferior Kevin Costner film for the genuine article.

I kinda wish we could have Harry Leroy AND Clifton Phifer. (We Philly baseball fans are like Southerners. We like middle names. “MICHAEL. JACK. SCHMIDT!” /HarryKalas) But the Phils are definitely improved this year. Nice to see Placido Polanco getting off to such a great start.

I am off to the Bank on Thursday to see the Fightins get their NL Champs rings. Daresay they won’t be quite as blingy as the WS rings from last year, but I’m sure they will be quite nice!

“We already know about the presence of the word(s) “base ball” in the first chapter of Northanger Abbey, the first piece of proof that, since she was the first writer to mention it”

Mags, since you’ve raised a question—-obviously you were joking about JA having invented baseball. But you WEREN’T joking in expressing the opinion about her being the first writer to mention baseball, and that was what I was responding to, and giving more accurate information on that point.

No, Mags, for the fourth time, you WEREN’T joking about JA being the first to use the word “baseball” in print–you were joking about JA having invented baseball, which is an obvious joke, but it’s not the point I was responding to.

PLUS….you yourself have pointed us back to your 2008 blog post, and from what your blog search engine tells me, you said EXACTLY the same thing in 2008 that you said here the other day, i.e., that JA was the first to use the word “baseball” in print.

I will also point out that I made my post and let it be. It is because you have made an issue, in a rather impolite way, that I am responding now.

It does seem to me that you just don’t like to be shown to be in error, even on such a small point as this.

This is hilarious. He actually told Mags what she intended, as if her poor little head couldn’t cope with it.

I bow to you sir, both on this thread and the “Janeite and Proud” thread. In a contest of “whose is bigger?” your ego has definitely outstripped mine. And now I must get back to daydreaming over the choice of Jeremy Northam, Ciaran Hinds, Alan Rickman, or Colin Firth as portraying the arch-typical embodiment of the romantic hero. Hugh Grant is a tool and none of the Henry Tilney pretenders are in the first division.

I believe that some of the Irish first names (Ryan, Kyle, Craig) and the more modern first names (Hayden, Chad, Justin) don’t belong in Austen, but some of these are excellent fits, such as Thomas James Everidge, Robert Nicholas Blackburn, and Adam Parrish Wainwright. I believe they may have been Kitty and Mary’s suitors.